Yamaha had sponsored Damon since 1985. They gave him eight bikes for the year, two tuned by factory mechanics for national events. He got $8,000 parts credit for the year ( a ton of money in 87) and had the option to sell the bikes at the end of the season. His parents got about $25,000 to cover travel and expenses. He got $500 for a national win and $50 each day to test.

I was working down on the floor at this one and there is so much you can't tell from the video.

1. It rained during move in and the dirt that the call clay in south florida is really a gravely limestone that does not handle water well. The track was, for want of a better word, mushy. I remember there was one tabletop that the riders would land short on and you could see the jump mash down like a big block of foam.

2. The amateurs had raced on the morning of this race because they had a monster truck event scheduled Sunday afternoon. John Savitski was still building the tracks back then and equipment was much slower than the new generation hydrostatic stuff and it was all the crew could do in the time they had to work some of the corners. The ruts were much deeper than what you can tell in this clip.

3. It is funny how slow these guys look compared to modern supercross, but the track was a tough one. Ruts and a bunch of short steep obstacles that really disrupted the flow of the small bores. It would sure be interesting to watch some 250Fs ride on one of the old designs like this one. I really believe they would look like "B" riders.

4. I have seen a full version of this race on youtube but couldn't seem to find it. Bradshaw had already taken a pretty tough fall before this clip even starts.

We loved to watch Damon Bradshaw race. As a matter of fact our youngest son Kyle Damon Goerke, was named after Damon Bradshaw and Kyle Petty We remember how great the riders like Steve Lamson , Guy Cooper, Jeff Stanton, Mike Larocco, John Dowd , Doug Henry and Damon Bradshaw would always take time to talk and sign autographs for Matt , when he was a pee wee rider , after GatorBack Nationals. Those guys are always going to be the greatest in our mind. Doug Henry and John Dowd made Matts day when they walked the track with him after he won the amatuer day on his 65 at Gatorback. You guys gave these kids so much encouragement and us great memories....
Cyndi Goerke

I was at Damon's pro debut at Hi-Point. He raced "amatuer" day on Saturday in the 250A, prior to the National on Sunday, I was in the 250B class, 1989 I believe.. Damon was the only rider on Saturday jumping the triple behind the starting gate. After he did it that weekend, everyone started doing it. There is a reason the finish line straight is "Bradshaw Blvd". He was spectacular to watch on race day and an awesome person to speak to personally. I was also there in the mud when he won his last national in 1997. Verocious competitor and humble person.